There has been much speculation on these pages into the fact that Jeff hasn't been heard of during the Covid crisis and various lockdowns. Perhaps it's time for us to give our thoughts on how he may have been occupying himself. What would your wish be to come out of Jeff's Covid isolation? I think he has been collaborating with a scriptwriter to create a stage musical featuring his songs (in the way that musicals have been created using other artists songs eg. Queen, Rod Stewart, Tina Turner etc). The JL musical will be ready to go into production when theatres reopen properly.
There has been much speculation on these pages into the fact that Jeff hasn't been heard of during the Covid crisis and various lockdowns. Perhaps it's time for us to give our thoughts on how he may have been occupying himself. What would your wish be to come out of Jeff's Covid isolation? I think he has been collaborating with a scriptwriter to create a stage musical featuring his songs (in the way that musicals have been created using other artists songs eg. Queen, Rod Stewart, Tina Turner etc). The JL musical will be ready to go into production when theatres reopen properly.
A stage show is a good idea and maybe a film (a la Rocket Man, Bohemian Rhapsody etc) but I think he may have squirrelled himself away re recording all the old ELO albums...
"The most outstanding rock group in the world today, my friends,the Electric... Light... Orchestra" TC '78
He has been reading through all the forum posts and is wondering why there is an obsession with Llamas, Gibraltar, Vaccination stickers and the album Time.
He has been reading through all the forum posts and is wondering why there is an obsession with Llamas, Gibraltar, Vaccination stickers and the album Time.
Quite possibly very true....
"The most outstanding rock group in the world today, my friends,the Electric... Light... Orchestra" TC '78
There has been much speculation on these pages into the fact that Jeff hasn't been heard of during the Covid crisis and various lockdowns. Perhaps it's time for us to give our thoughts on how he may have been occupying himself. What would your wish be to come out of Jeff's Covid isolation? I think he has been collaborating with a scriptwriter to create a stage musical featuring his songs (in the way that musicals have been created using other artists songs eg. Queen, Rod Stewart, Tina Turner etc). The JL musical will be ready to go into production when theatres reopen properly.
A stage show is a good idea and maybe a film (a la Rocket Man, Bohemian Rhapsody etc) but I think he may have squirrelled himself away re recording all the old ELO albums...
I really hope your wrong about re recording of all the old ELO albums, I thought they were perfect at the time and they still are to me. I’m hoping he has been relaxing maybe penning a few new tunes and thinking about a few songs he could add to the next tour schedule.
A stage show is a good idea and maybe a film (a la Rocket Man, Bohemian Rhapsody etc) but I think he may have squirrelled himself away re recording all the old ELO albums...
I really hope your wrong about re recording of all the old ELO albums, I thought they were perfect at the time and they still are to me. I’m hoping he has been relaxing maybe penning a few new tunes and thinking about a few songs he could add to the next tour schedule.
I'm only speculating but I wouldn't be surprised....
"The most outstanding rock group in the world today, my friends,the Electric... Light... Orchestra" TC '78
A few years before jukebox musicals became the next big thing in Hollywood with Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, Jeff was apparently approached with a similar idea, but he made it clear that the Mr. Blue Sky documentary from 2012 was his final say on ELO, and that anything taking more creative liberties wasn't fitting with his overall vision for that campaign (which included the album of the same name).
As for whether Jeff could have spent the last few months remaking his entire back catalogue, that's extremely unlikely when you consider that the aforementioned MBS project dates back to at least 2001. We know that a follow-up to that was completed, but there's a world of difference between another dozen or so tracks and several albums of material. However, I'll say this much for now: Jeff has definitely been busy, but more with going through his archive...
"I can dream of flying high Above the city's cares and never be afraid of anyone 'Cos there ain't no one there."
A few years before jukebox musicals became the next big thing in Hollywood with Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, Jeff was apparently approached with a similar idea, but he made it clear that the Mr. Blue Sky documentary from 2012 was his final say on ELO, and that anything taking more creative liberties wasn't fitting with his overall vision for that campaign (which included the album of the same name).
As for whether Jeff could have spent the last few months remaking his entire back catalogue, that's extremely unlikely when you consider that the aforementioned MBS project dates back to at least 2001. We know that a follow-up to that was completed, but there's a world of difference between another dozen or so tracks and several albums of material. However, I'll say this much for now: Jeff has definitely been busy, but more with going through his archive...
That would have been some film! like the other two films, I'm guessing that it would only have covered the beginning of Jeff's career up until say, the end of the 70s when the band was at its peak. Who would have played the band do you think?
"The most outstanding rock group in the world today, my friends,the Electric... Light... Orchestra" TC '78
Even before I read ShardEnder's entry, I figured Jeff has been going through his "box of tapes," selecting the snippets that are salvageable, and turning them into new songs. Perhaps other finds are going into a pile destined for an Anthology-type boxed set.
Jeff may not have been doing anything to compile a 2LP version of Time, but I know someone who has. I just wish there was a way to look through social media posts that have since been deleted, because there was a full conversation about this, only now it's been pruned down to avoid spoiling any potential activity behind the scenes.
Speaking of what may or may not be coming soon, if you're curious to see just how many tracks Jeff found in that box of tapes under his bed (which is really a climate-controlled room containing four whole shelves of audio reels, videotapes and visual material, to be more specific), a list can be easily put together if you know where to look.
Without giving too much away for those who prefer surprises, let's just say that his next career-spanning retrospective promises to be exactly that - a celebration spanning his entire catalogue, with some newly polished ideas dating all the way back to a series of recently surfaced demo acetates from when he was still in The Idle Race!
Of course, it's always possible Jeff simply had these titles registered in case the original versions ever leaked so he could have these pulled from circulation, but if that was the case, wouldn't Beatles Forever also be part of this same list? As happened with From Out Of Nowhere, many newly added songs are future release contenders.
"I can dream of flying high Above the city's cares and never be afraid of anyone 'Cos there ain't no one there."
eloneen: I'm getting ready for our 2024 North American eclipse! We will have 70-80% coverage at the peak of the event, but it's still a big deal! The kids at the school will be very excited! We have eclipse glasses for myself and the family at the ready. ::t1615::
Apr 7, 2024 16:34:41 GMT
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Horacewimp: It should be a great sight eloneen we are getting nothing in the middle of the uk 😢
Apr 8, 2024 7:35:34 GMT
orioles70: I had to go to 5 places today before I got some eclipse viewing glasses. When I got to 7/11, the lady was saying on the phone, "I'm down to my last box". In Maryland we'll get about an 85% blackout at the peak. So far the clouds are holding off.
Apr 8, 2024 18:39:25 GMT
unomusette: Oooh, hope all our 'mercan forumheads have a great view, you lucky things ::t1607::
Apr 8, 2024 20:29:03 GMT
eloneen: I got my glasses from Amazon last week - enough for the family and a few to spare. I was at school, and the eclipse was happening right before dismissal, so many teachers had lessons about the eclipse and ended the day with taking the students outside.
Apr 9, 2024 2:15:35 GMT
eloneen: It was quite a scene, and great fun watching them experiencing our partial eclipse with such enthusiasm and awe. Some of them had seen the total eclipse in western NC in 2017 with their families. My mother was underwhelmed, expecting much more. Oh well!
Apr 9, 2024 2:18:07 GMT
orioles70: expecting much more? or maybe much less? (sunlight) I was a little surprised at how much light came through with 85% of the sun blocked. I had expected a cloudy day so I was pleasantly surprised by how good the eclipse viewing was.
Apr 9, 2024 14:07:46 GMT
BIuebird: We got about 88% coverage here in Delaware! I had bought my glasses last week, so we were prepared. It was pretty cool! I was afraid that the clouds that creeped up might obscure it at the last minute, but we were lucky and they held off.
Apr 9, 2024 14:59:50 GMT
eloneen: My mother was expecting more drama, more darkness, more changes. Instead, it looked like a quicker than normal transition from sunny skies to dusky skies in mid-afternoon, then a return to sunny skies. After all the hype on TV, she was disappointed.
Apr 9, 2024 18:59:41 GMT
eloneen: I saw the total eclipse in 2017, about 4 hours west of where I live. This year's partial eclipse was not as dramatic, but still quite extraordinary.
Apr 9, 2024 19:03:50 GMT
Timeblue: Did you all see the lights go down?
Apr 10, 2024 10:30:04 GMT
eloneen: Not entirely, but we saw the streetlights turn on, which was cool.
Apr 12, 2024 15:11:30 GMT
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Horacewimp: Did you get the eerie silence when the birds stop singing because they think night has come early
Apr 12, 2024 15:19:22 GMT
eloneen: I thought I heard birds singing the way they do early in the morning. We didn't get complete coverage, so it was probably a little confusing when it got a bit darker and then brightened up again fairly soon after.
Apr 12, 2024 18:43:20 GMT
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BSJ: We were able to enjoy the full eclipse from our backyard. Unbelievable experience. A hush stillness was felt. It became dark during the few minutes of full coverage. From when we first started to see the sliver of moon sliding over the sun, to the end, 2hr
Apr 13, 2024 13:19:47 GMT
eloneen: Agreed. The total eclipse experience is amazing, and I'm glad I was able to see one.
Apr 13, 2024 13:40:37 GMT
Timeblue: Just a word on the middle east crisis, I pray to god that this doesn't escalate as some have predicted. I fear this situation could be serious in the coming days.....
Apr 14, 2024 0:41:25 GMT
eloneen: I'm with you on that.
Apr 14, 2024 11:57:23 GMT